Art

Your Next Pair of Earrings Could be Made out of Nipples

Like many artists and designers, London-based, 18-year-old, Spanish-Morrocan artist Karim Boumjimar (@beigetype) sells his work online. His online shop includes crop tops, dresses, earrings, and photographs. Unlike the clothing and accessories listed on most online shops, however, Boumjimar’s designs could be considered ephemeral: crop tops made of plastic bags, earrings made of broccoli and mushrooms, a dress made of some cut up newspaper, tube socks, a shoelace… and his own, severed nipples, fashioned into earrings—and no, we’re not kidding about that last one. A lot of people get nipple piercings, but very few (if any) turn their nipples into jewelry.

“They are more like an artwork, but you can actually attach them to your ear,” Boumjimar, whose website describes him as a “professional parody,” told Dazed. After deciding he wanted to get his nipples and belly button removed, Boumjimar traveled to Bosnia for the procedure, which he describes as “legal, but not so legal.” The doctor (or at least, we hope it was a doctor who cut his nipples off) put him under—when he woke up, both his nipples and belly button were gone.

In all the post-op pics he’s uploaded online, Boumjimar’s chest is smooth, clean, and nipple-free, but the procedure left him with some pretty gnarly scars, which he covers with “a lot of foundation,” and sometimes latex or Typex.

As for all his other quirky products, they’re all available for purchase on his online shop; buy them if you dare, but they would probably fall apart after one or two wears. And yet, maybe wearing them isn’t really the point.

The listings and accompanying images seem to be more important than what’s actually being sold. In addition to his nipple earrings, there are his “MEAT-FREE NON VEGAN EARRINGS,” which are described as “crystal rocks inside a ‘salt’ envelope” but are actually just two McDonald’s salt packets with metal jewelry hooks attached.

You can buy earrings made of broccoli, mushrooms, and salt packets on Boumjimar’s online shop.

“Without salt, you could not exist for a moment. At the fundamental level of the physical body, you are a walking, breathing, salty ocean,”the description reads. Deep.

For Boumjimar, there’s a fine line between his art and his identity. “I consider my Instagram as an artwork,” he said. “My body modifications don’t really relate to my artwork, but they do relate to my identity.” Next up on the list? “Maybe something with my feet,” he said—thankfully he doesn’t plan on cutting them off, too.